Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Bacony Chicken and Rice Bake

This chicken and rice dish is one of my personal favorites and a site favorite and it is awesome! Now I know that we've all had the usual condensed soup with rice and chicken bake, but this one is just a bit different. It's loaded with flavor from the bacon and seasonings ... I'm tellin' ya the rice is just over the top! You really gotta try it.

You should really check out her book - not only is it HILarious - well heck, all her books are - but this one truly has some pretty great southern eatin' in it too, but ... don't expect anything to be low fat.

I like bone in chicken thighs here, and I wrote this recipe for only 4 of them for me and The Cajun, however, I sometimes do increase it to a 9 x 13 inch pan. You can use a whole chicken, large bone-in breasts, all thighs, or leg quarters - pretty much whatever your heart desires, though I don't recommend boneless, skinless breasts. Here's what I do to increase the recipe.

Lay out 6 to 8 slices (or more) of bacon in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle 1 cup of long grain, raw rice on top of the bacon. I do not double the rice. Add chicken on top of rice and season as in the recipe. I don't double any of the seasonings either. Mix 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, instead of just one, but still only use 1 cup of water, mixed with the remaining seasonings. Cover tightly with one layer of aluminum foil, repeat with a second layer. Bake as directed. This works out perfect.

It cooks low and slow so the chicken is falling off the bone tender, and it and the rice are so full of flavor it's a sin! One thing to note, especially if you do increase the size, and especially if you are not certain your oven is accurate - you may need to go longer on the time. Check the rice in the middle and if it is still not done, recover it, and return it to the oven.

Give it a try sometime - I just know you'll love it!! Here's how to make it.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. We start off with that bacon. In a 9 x 9 square I used 4 slices, cut in half, but whatever pan you're usin' just make sure that it covers the bottom.

On top of that add 1 cup of uncooked rice. Yes. I said uncooked. Don't you especially love that?!

Now lay whatever chicken you're using on top of the rice. I don't recommend pulling the skin off of the chicken - I think it really needs to stay on there to flavor the dish, but you can certainly pull it off when you eat it.

Now sprinkle the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper.

And some paprika and Cajun seasoning - to taste - a lot or a little, however much you like.

Now in a separate bowl, dump in one can of cream of chicken soup. Yes, you can use the reduced fat version if ya like. Add a cup of water to that. Then add a sprinkle of garlic salt, a pinch of nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and a palmful of dried parsley.

Whisk that all together real good.

And pour it all over the top of the chicken - don't stir anything up though!

Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil or use a double layer of regular foil, adding one layer and sealing it, then another layer and sealing it separately. Put it in the upper or middle level of your oven at 300 degrees F and bake for 2 hours and don't check on it, don't peek at it, just leave it to cook.

Now you might be thinking you'll up the temp and go for a shorter cooking time. Don't do it. You'll end up having to cook it this long anyway for the rice to be cooked and then you'll burn up your bacon. Ask me how I know. This might work for the crockpot, though I can't attest to the success of that either since I've not done it that way. Cooking the chicken itself would probably work fine, but since the bacon in this baked version crisps up in the bottom of the baking dish, so that you get bits and pieces of it as you scoop out the rice, I'm not sure how that would work out in a crockpot. I've also never had much success with rice in a crockpot either. This dish is so good just as it is written, that I'm of the thinkin' that if it ain't broke, don't go tryin' to fix it!

After 2 hours (or a little bit longer if you double this), carefully uncover, check the rice in the center to see if it is cooked through. If not, cover it back up and let it cook a little bit longer. When it's ready, smell the wonderful goodliness of it and serve it up. Be sure to scoop down into that rice and snag some of that bacon when you plate it though for sure!!

Doesn't that look so good? It is just so melt-in-your-mouth-tender and loaded with flavor that I swear you are gonna pick that bone up and just chew it dry!!

And the rice. Oh my goodness, the rice. It is just so delicious you will roll your eyes back in your head. I swear I could just eat a whole plate of the rice!!! Hope you like it too - now go make some and let me know what you think.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cut 4 slices of bacon in half and layer them on the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Pour the rice on top. Add the chicken over the rice and season with the salt, pepper, paprika, and Cajun seasoning. In a separate bowl add the cream of chicken soup, water, garlic salt, nutmeg, oregano, and parsley and whisk together well. Pour over the chicken. Cover tightly with heavy duty foil, or add one layer of regular aluminum foil, seal tight and repeat with a second layer. Bake in the middle or upper part of your oven, at 300 degrees F for 2 hours - without peeking!

Cook's Notes: If you're thinking of this as a traditional chicken and rice dish with crispy skin, this is not that. This is a covered baked chicken. Okay to use lower fat cream soups, however, do not use a thick cut bacon. Use a regular thin sliced bacon for best results, however the bacon is primarily for flavor and generally will not be crisp. You may parcook it if you like. If you use the recipe as is in a 9 x 9, but only white meat chicken pieces, and especially boneless, skinless breasts, I would also suggest adding some chicken broth to make up for the fat loss/moisture from the dark meat.

How to Double: This is what I do. Use 6 or more slices of bacon in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle 1 cup (I do not double the rice) of long grain, raw rice on top of the bacon and add chicken on top of rice. Season as above. Mix 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, with 1 cup of water and remaining seasonings. Cover tightly with one layer of aluminum foil, repeat with a second layer. Bake at 300 degrees F for 2 hours.

Tip: A reader passed this tip on to me and I think it's a great idea. When you mix up the soup, reserve about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the soup mix. Mix all of the rice with the remaining soup mix and pour over the bacon. Add the meat on top, then pour the reserved soup all over the top of the meat. This helps to ensure that the rice is cooked through and flavored well. Thanks CW!

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I am a Sweet Potato Queen lover...BACON...that's all I need....did you know bacon and chocolate taste divine? I can assure you it does... This recipe looks wonderful and it's happening aroundhere on Saturday...the son is coming to eat. I told ya I was making it "my New 30" week and from the looks of it it could be "my New 30' month! yummy stuuf...thanks so much.

I've made this casserole three times now and oh my goodness! The first time I made it exactly according to the instructions, turned out beautifully, and my little niece wolfed it down. It was the first thing she'd eaten after being very ill so we were chuffed.

The second time was with brown rice, still good, but nowhere near as good as plain long-grain. Third time I had to bake it sans foil, it was amazing. The chicken skin crisped up beautifully.

Hey Jan! I need to make this in a 9 x 13 to experiment myself, but that said, the original recipe was actually in a 9 x 13 BUT used the same amount of ingredients (except for the bacon and the chicken) as I use in the 9 x 9.

Personally, I liked the concentrated flavor of the rice in the smaller dish though, so if I were gonna do a large pan, I would double the soup, rice and water only, use the seasonings as stated (don't double) then taste and see if it needed more seasoning. I guess I need to grab a family pack of thighs and need to go ahead and give it a try, but if you beat me to it, and think about it, let me know how you made the adjustments!

I made this yesterday with some changes: I used a 9x13 casserole dish. I laid my bacon in the bottom, and then I put 2 cups of rice. I then put 3 leg quarters on top of the rice and seasoned them with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon pepper. In a bowl, I mixed 1 can of cream of mushroom and 2 cups of chicken broth. I whisked it together with a little more salt and pepper and garlic powder. I poured this over the chicken and rice. I covered with aluminum foil and baked at 300for 2 hours. It was magnificent!

Have you ever put this together ahead of time and refrigerated until time to bake? I often put things together the night before, then leave it in the fridge for my husband to put in the oven when he gets home from work (he gets home before I do).

Since nothing in the dish is hot when you put it together, I'm sure that it would be fine to make it all up and refrigerate it immediately.

The worry we have with food-borne illnesses is almost always about holding foods at temperatures that are in the "danger zone" -- danger zone is between 41º F and 135º F.

The safe thing is to allow foods to be in the danger zone for as little time as possible -- keep in refrigerator until ready to cook, bring up to cooking temperature fairly quickly, cook to a safe temp (165º F. for chicken), and then either keep at over 135º F or put in the refrigerator to reach less than 41º F quickly.

In this dish, nothing would be in the danger zone by putting the ingredients together in advance.

Mary, thanks for this great recipe. I tried it today with a cut up fryer -- it was delicious.

I followed your advice to add an extra cup of liquid for the 9x13 pan. I also removed the foil about 15 minutes before the two hours was up so that the skin could brown. Best of all, I added a little bacon to the top of the breast pieces to keep them moist.

I've made this recipe 5 times already and each time my kids LOVED it!! It's easy to make and it's so delicious. The meat is tender, the rice is creamy and the bacon flavor adds a nice touch to the meal.

Hmm, hard to say, but it shouldn't be crunchy that's for sure! Maybe it needed to go a little bit longer? I have only made this with dark meat both in the small pan and the larger pan, but haven't had that happen. Did you use white or dark meat chicken? I have wondered if the fat from the dark meat helps with the rice. Was it baked in the bottom or upper part of the oven? And when you said you used the doubling instructions, do you mean from the note at the bottom with the extra broth? The original recipe didn't call for that but I added that to the recipe.

I did put it in longer, actually. I even took the foil off and gave it another fifteen minutes. The rice around the edges cooked but the rice on the bottom was still crunchy. I used thighs like the recipe suggested. I baked it on the middle rack in the oven, and yeah, I used the extra broth, ten thighs, two cups of rice and a whole package of center cut bacon, all in a 13x9 dish.

Thanks for stopping back by. Maybe it was the rice? Did you use regular white rice or brown? It's so hard to analyze after the fact & without having been there with you, but the only other thing I can think of then is that your oven temperature could be off. My oven is so old that I use an oven thermometer. As you can see from the comments, this dish has been successfully made many times & it's one of the most popular on the site, so I just don't know what could have been the problem. Sorry I can't help more! If you would like to discuss it more please feel free to email me.

I just got a new oven to replace the 30-y-o one that came with the house. I am psyched to try out this recipe - I just called Hubby to defrost some leg quarters and bacon. We're eating good tonight - inexpensively! My favorite site for this forever-Arizonan gal... who loves to cook WELL!

Oh boy won't THAT oven be a delight!! I am planning for Santa to bring me a new one so I hope that I can say I'm working on a new one myself after Christmas!! Hope that you enjoyed the chicken - we love it!

My mistakes: Used a 9x13, 1 can cream of mushroom,didn't have nutmeg,used skinless and boneless chicken..waited for 2 whole hours..with that being said; this was the best meal I have had in along time...can't wait to try it the right way...not sure if it could be better...well worth the wait..Thank you for the post. Makes me feel like I'm a chef!!!!

Made this yesterday, and it was a HUGE hit with the family. I made two dishes - one with bone-in thighs and one with bone-in breasts. Both were equally good. One thing - my bacon did not crisp up AT ALL. The flavor was certainly there, but no-one would eat the actual bacon. It looked almost raw. It was thick sliced bacon - would that make a difference?

If you're only using the 4 thighs, definitely go with the 8 x 8 inch pan. You may want to place the two racks close together and stick a small baking sheet on the rack under the baking dish, just in case there is any spill over. You may not need it but it'd be good insurance the first time just in case!

This turned out to be a great, savory dish...ideally a cool-weather dish but I've scarfed it down anytime I happen to have the ingredients on hand. THANK you for such a great site; I refer to Deep South Dish much more often than my dozens of cookbooks :).

This turned out to be a great, savory dish...ideally a cool-weather dish but I've scarfed it down anytime I happen to have the ingredients on hand. THANK you for such a great site; I refer to Deep South Dish much more often than my dozens of cookbooks :).

Thank you so much Mike for taking the time to come back by and tell me you enjoyed this & and my other recipes. That really means a lot to me! I'm like you - I'm not bothered about running the oven occasionally on these hot summer days but I know what you mean about the heat. I'm thinking about giving this a try in my electric skillet. It's a little bigger than a 9 x 13 so I'll have to do a big pack of those leg quarters, but if it works out I sure will let y'all know!

Hello! I love reading recipes on your site. I tried this recipe today, but I think I may have screwed it up. I bought thick cut bacon (inadvertently), I used brown rice, and I didn't add any chicken broth (but I doubled the recipe). I misread it, as I thought chicken broth was only if you used white meat. Anyways, fingers crossed! I am baking it for 2 hours and 30 minutes, since I used brown rice. I hope it comes out good! Question, they do not sell Slap Yo Momma in my area. Is there another cajun seasoning you recommend? I usually buy Tony's Cacheres but I also have a bottle of Emeril's BAM seasoning.

Thanks so much! First, Tony's or Emeril's - either will work! The only thing with the thick bacon is that while it will flavor the dish, it won't really cook through well. The dish is still good though! The brown rice could be an issue - it's just that it takes much longer to cook than plain white rice. The original recipe uses skin-on thighs, which provides some fat for the rice, so I suggest the chicken broth when you use boneless, skinless breasts to make up for the moisture & loss of fat. Hope it turned out & Happy New Year!!

So many people raved about this recipe, so I tried it today. Using a 9 X 13 plan, thin sliced bacon, a whole cut up chicken, 1 1/2 c long grain whilte rice, 3 cans of soup, 1 can water and all recommended spices. As someone suggested, I reserved some soup then mixed the rice with the remaining soup, poured the mixture over the bacon, placed the chidken on top and poured remaining soup over the chicken. I wrapped tightly in foil and baked 1 1/2 hrs at 300. Smelled heavenly while cooking, but when I removed the foil, there was grease pooled on top, the back did not crisp at all and after I served it, I noticed there were crunchy grains of rice. My husband and 14 yr old grandson ate it up, but it was not appetizing to me with limp bacon, the grease and crunchy rice. Other than using too much soup any ideas what happenend?

Hey Patti! I do 300 degrees for 2 hours for a half pan and about the same for a bigger pan, so wondering why you only went 1-1/2 hours? Sounds like it just needed a little more time. I always check the rice in the center at the 2 hours just to see if it needs any more time. I also use the cheap thin bacon in a glass pan & it crisps up nicely underneath. If the bacon is somewhat thick, I recommend par-cooking it a bit. Since your using skin on chicken, there will be some pooling of fat like in the picture above, but the fat also flavors and helps the rice to cook. Not sure what you mean about the back not crisping though? You can uncovered it if you want to try and crisp up the skin. Anyway, if you would like to email me at mary@deepsouthdish we can discuss it more and maybe we can figure it all out though!

I saw this dish on Pinterest and decided to make it for dinner. The rice sounds just like my grandma's, which no one has been able to duplicate for 20 years! I live in the sticks and had just used the last of my bacon for breakfast. So, I could not line the bottom of my dish with it. I did, however, mix the rice with some bacon drippings before spreading it on the bottom of my pan. I already know it is going to be good!

This was great for a chilly winter night. However I used large thighs and it had to bake another 30 minutes before the juice ran clear from the chicken. Very tasty and bonus leftovers for lunches this week.

Hi Angela! I would reserve that already cooked chicken to use in a shorter cooking casserole dish, rather than this. You could do something somewhat similar with the ingredients, but using already cooked rice, although you'll have to make some adjustments.

Hey Kimberly! I do think this would work well with the raw turkey wings and since it's a slow cook, I'm guessing the time would probably be about the same, though I can't be too sure on that. Let me know if you give it a spin!

Hi Mary, glad you are doing well now! Made your recipe for the 3rd time. It is definitely a keeper. Only changes I made were, used my 9x13 alum. pan, broiled the bacon until almost crisp, that way, you can leave in or take out the grease. I used 4 slices of thick cut bacon, did fine. Used 11/4 cup rice, 6 average sized thighs, 1 teas. Cavenders seas. in place oregano, 2 cups water, 2 cans soup. Rice came out good and moist, not dry. This is a fantastic recipe. Makes enough for 3 people, with leftovers, took about 2 hr. and 20 min. to bake. You have helped to make be be a better cook with your good recipes!!!!

Has this been made with Parboiled rice? I just want to know how this comes out with the reg. long grain white rice. Is it mushy or a good constiancy. Should I use Parboiled? I like soft moist rice but not Mushy... Please help ☻♥

I have only ever made this with regular, long grain rice. You are not going to find the rice in this dish fluffy, so I guess by your definition it would be soft, or "mushy" maybe? I think the photograph of the rice alone that is right above the recipe text is a pretty good indication of what it is like when following the recipe. Hope that helps!

I think so! I've only made this with bone-in and typically bone-in chicken will take longer to cook than boneless, so you may have to factor that in the cooking time. You really need the longer time for the rice to cook, however, given that this is with thighs (versus breasts) and it cooks at such a low temperature, it may balance out with the 2 hour cook time. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out!

I have not worked with other temperature on this recipe but have baked chicken at various degrees with other recipes. I'd lean more toward 375 though, 400 may be too high. Your best gauge is to check the internal temperature and the rice in the middle when you think it's about done. What pieces are you thinking about cooking? Will they be bone-in, or boneless?

Just made this tonight and took it out of the oven. Looks exactly like your photo and it's absolutely delicious and easy ! Thanks for the great recipe ! I used skinless and boneless chicken thighs so I added chicken stock instead of water.

Mary, I've made this several times. It's my go to when I catch thighs on sale. Also, it's in my "add to dinner rotation" on my pinterest page. Thank you so much for the great recipes. (I laugh sometimes when I read some of the comments. People ask questions that are clearly answered in the recipe) Go figure.

I absolutely ,positively love the bacony chicken and rice bake..I have made this a few times now and even my kids who can be fussy eaters love it...This is a fabulous comfort food. I have even thought about turning the leftovers into a soup I bet it would come out soo yummy

Hi Mary, Realizing this recipe is from 2009 and its now 2015 I am very late to the party, but I made this tonight for the first time and I made it exactly like the recipe said. 4 Bone in Skin on chicken thighs, white rice, mine looked just like your pictures. I double foiled it 300 for 2 hours & I didn't peak. All that being said, flavor was amazing, however, my rice was still crunchy under the thighs. The rice on the sides was cooked perfectly though and tasted amazing, but the rice under the thighs was still crunchy :( Maybe its my oven, but I'm thinking if I use a rectangle casserole dish (not the 13x9, but the smaller one) I could lay the bacon down, then the chicken, then place the rice around the chicken and then pour over the soup mixture that might help the rice cook more evenly. I didn't stir it cause instructions said not too, but its like the rice under the thighs didn't get enough liquid. What do you think? The flavor was really great so I'm bound and determined to make it right somehow.Thanks, Carly

Hi Carly! I have never had that happen with my oven, but it's most likely the oven that's the culprit, especially if it happens to be an older one - the temperature could fluctuate from what the thermostat says. At any rate that's why I recommend checking the rice in the middle and then recovering and continue cooking if it's not done. The recipe is actually written for the 9 x 9 dish but with the doubling instructions make sure you are not doubling the rice! You probably just needed a little more time. Now, that said, there's a tip at the bottom about mixing the rice with some of the soup mixture. Try that next time!

Just wondering if you've ever made this successfully with breasts or a mix of breasts & thighs. Mine came out with pools of fat sitting on top that while tasty did a number on our digestive systems. LOL Maybe if I removed the skin next time?

Oh, that's not fun at all. I have never had that issue with this dish, however I suppose if your tummy is a little sensitive to fat, it sure could do that! The fat from the chicken is what helps to both season and cook the rice though, so I have not personally tried this dish using skinless thighs or a mix other than thighs & legs. The finished dish should end up looking similar to those pictures in the recipe tutorial above if that helps. Also, in some of the comments above you might find some help. Several readers have made different variations and shared their results. Hope that helps!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

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